Major pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has been accused of pressuring poor Third World parents into enrolling their children in experimental drug trials that have led to the deaths of at least 12 infants.

"In most cases these are underprivileged individuals, many of them unable to read or write, who are pressured into including their children," said Juan Carlos Palomares of Fesprosa.

"This occurs without any type of state control [and] does not comply with minimum ethical requirements," the federation said.

At least 12 Argentinean babies enrolled in the study have died in the past year.